ELLE.com is excited to announce #GoBOLD, a new competition series in partnership with Revlon, that celebrates bold, provocative women setting out to accomplish their goals.

Over the course of 10 webisodes, three contestants participate in challenges—from putting together their own magazine spreads to creating outfits that reflect their individual personalities—and learn valuable lessons on how to elevate their careers, taking pointers from some seriously successful women, like series host (and Orange Is The New Black star) Laverne Cox, PR maven Kelly Cutrone, designer Patricia Field, our very own Editor-in-Chief, Robbie Myers, and more. The result: much greater takeaways, like the importance of being confident, powerful, and of course, BOLD.

After giving birth to her second child, Heather Thomson (one part Real Housewife, one part business owner) was feeling self conscious about her body. "It was a selfish initiative at first," Thomson tells ELLE.com about the launch of her business. "When I launched Yummie I was not looking to open a business. I was looking for a solution. I felt like crap after I had my baby. You've just done an amazing thing as a woman and you're left with this inflated intertube around your midsection. [Women] feel so insecure."

Thus the three-panel-tank, and multitudes of other shapewear styles that make up Thomson's brand that aims to make women feel confident, was born. Here, the boldest Real Housewife of New York shares some insight into where she got her confidence.

On the most important thing she learned from Puffy while working for Sean John:

"One of the things that Puffy left me with was [the importance of knowing] what I was made of. When you have someone in your life that pushes you to your limit, you really learn what you are made of. When you're pushed to your limits, you know what works for you and what doesn't. Puffy gave me insight into what I'm made of. And I'm grateful for that every day.

On what life experiences have shown her what "she's made of:"

"When you have to be a parent and advocate for your young child dealing with health issues—that definitely showed me what I was made of. Launching my own business, having people I felt responsible for, launching a company in the middle of a [recession]. That's scary. So I would say those are the times that have tested my strength."

On learning about confidence at an early age:

"I have to credit my mom and some of the women I grew up around who literally told me I could be whatever I wanted to be. I was never ever discouraged as a child. I was only encouraged. And the world was my oyster and I was hungry for it. People can have all the confidence in the world, but they're not hungry. I was hungry to get out into the world to make a difference. I knew that if my heart was in the right place and I had the right people around me, that if I found something I was passionate about and that I loved, I would always be good at it."